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Kickers in poker. Compare the right five.

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Same pair. Different ending.

A kicker is a side card in your best five that can decide a tie. Try this same-pair puzzle, then use the illustrated examples below to learn which cards count.

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Compare the hands

Community cards

Your cards

Other player

Reveal the explanation

Both players have a pair of aces. Your best five are A-A-K-9-7; the other hand is A-A-Q-9-7. Your king kicker beats the queen.

Your best five: One pair

Their best five: One pair

Comparison uses standard PokerStars hand-ranking rules.

No chips, XP, or leaderboard score are attached to this puzzle. The answer is available without JavaScript through “Reveal the explanation.”

What decides this hand

A kicker is a side card in your best five-card hand. When the pair is tied, compare those side cards from highest to lowest.

Try the same rule with two pair.

What is a kicker in poker?

A kicker is a side card in your best five that can separate otherwise equal hands. For one pair, compare the pair first, then the three remaining cards from highest to lowest. The first different rank settles it, as explained in PokerStars hand-ranking rules.

If the first kicker matches, keep comparing

Hand A

Hand B

Both five-card hands have aces and a king. Hand A wins because its next kicker is a queen, ahead of Hand B’s jack. The nines do not change that result.

These are two five-card comparison examples, not a second shared-board deal. On a real Hold’em board, first choose each player’s strongest five from the seven available cards. A card left outside that five cannot break the tie.

Does every hand use a kicker?

See where kickers stop

No. A straight, flush, full house, or straight flush already uses all five places for its combination. A straight has no sixth-card kicker. For a flush, compare the five suited cards in order; for a full house, compare the triplet and then the pair.

With two pair, compare the higher pair, then the lower pair, then the fifth card. Try the two-pair example. If the best five match completely, use the shared-board puzzle to see why the pot is split.

Keep the tiebreaker chart nearby. When the hands make sense but the betting costs do not, the illustrated call-and-raise example is the next useful stop.

A different hand, a different lesson

Two pair: compare the fifth cardRead both pairs.Straight ties: the ace doesn't playYour ace can take a seat.Full houses: compare the three firstThree comes before two.

Use the hand-ranking chart if you need a reference, or return to all ten puzzles.